1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to systems and methods for users to plan and input itineraries and travel agendas into GPS-based automatic positional or navigation systems for automotive vehicles, and in particular to systems and methods for developing and storing on an office computer or personal computer itinerary and related travel agenda information and then replicating that information by transferring it to a vehicle-based GPS navigation system, thereby helping the busy traveler/car driver.
2. Discussion
Users of an automotive vehicle positioning systems, for instance a GPS navigation system used in conventional automotive vehicles, typically must manually input information about the user's destination, such as the street address of the destination, into the positioning system in order to have the positioning system determine routing information for the user. The manual entry of such customized information is time-consuming and a major drawback of such systems.
Some users of such automotive vehicle positioning systems, like sales and service personnel who are on the road, may stop at a several different locations before returning to their office or other starting/ending point of the trip. It is time-consuming and burdensome for a user to enter extensive information into a positioning system when traveling, or making plans to travel, to several different locations in sequence.
In currently-available positioning systems, the effort required of the user to obtain routing information can be lessened by selecting the destination with the aid of a system which allows the user to manually input a several letter code into the system. The location information associated with the code, consisting of only a few letters, has already been entered into the system by the system's manufacturer and suggests the most likely city and address which the user might need. Even with such an abbreviation or code-based system, considerable time and effort from the user may be required in the vehicle in order to initially input the relevant city and street addresses. Also, the entry of information is more difficult and problematic when the vehicle is in motion.
Generally, there are at least a few ways to get from a starting point to most destinations. Some of the currently-available positioning systems can generate alterative routes from the starting location to the user's destination location. This is due in part to those systems being loaded with extensive street and detailed map information on DVDs or other mass-storage devices available for such systems. However, the systems generally do not provide any information that might help the user decide or select which alternative route to choose, based upon a particular user's needs or preferences.
An important variable that influences the choice of route is the desired time of arrival at the user's destination. Current user-directed land-based vehicle navigation systems of which we are aware do not provide for the entry of the time of arrival as a variable to be used in selecting the route.
Besides desired time of arrival, we have recognized that there may be other factors which may influence a user when manually planning a route to choose one route over other alternative routes. Currently available positioning systems of which we are aware do not take such user preferences into account when planning or selecting routes for the user.
Some of the most regular users of vehicle navigation systems, such as sales and service personnel, may need to travel to a sequence of locations during a given day or trip. Some current user-based routing systems allow for the entry of different destinations in sequence. However, while en route, a call from the boss or an important client or prospective customer may cause such a traveler to change his or her originally planned itinerary or travel agenda for the day or trip. Therefore, such users need flexible routing capabilities, but we are unaware of the vehicle-based GPS navigation systems having the flexibility to easily add or delete or rearrange the order of a list of planned destinations, once a sequence of destinations has been entered, particularly with regard to destinations other than perhaps the last one on the list.
Users of vehicle navigation systems involved in sales or in providing services to customers frequently spend time at their own offices, or their customer's offices, shops, homes or other locations, making and confirming plans relative to their next stop or two or three. Such users often will sit at their own offices or some other base station and make phone calls to various clients or customers. When at their desks, they typically have available to them various sources of information to assist in the planning of an itinerary or a route that are not available as part of a vehicle-based navigation system. They may also have one or more staff members or assistants to help them locate needed addresses or contact people. They likely may have available a desk-top computer, a lap-top computer and/or a hand-held computer such as a personal digital assistant (PDA). These computers and portable devices often have much easier-to-use input devices and/or more convenient methods of entering data into them than does the typical automotive GPS navigation system of which we are aware. In addition, there is other helpful information on these traditional office computers or devices such as an electronic calendar, an electronic memo file, and an address book that might well assist in the route or itinerary planning process. Examples of combined personal information management and e-mail communication systems having such features include, but are not limited to, Lotus Notes, Corel Central, Microsoft Outlook and at least certain models of the Blackberry and Palm brands of PDAs.
To summarize, we have recognized that in one's office, there are many types of other useful reference materials on the Internet or on a personal task list or memo file that might be helpful in planning a route, such as databases containing names, addresses and phone numbers for businesses, maps of cellular phone coverage and other types of information. Currently, there is no way we know of for readily duplicating or transferring needed information, including but not limited to addresses and itineraries, which likely resides on one or more desktop or laptop computers or handheld PDA devices, relative to planning routes or itineraries, so that this useful information becomes readily available on an automotive vehicle navigation system.